Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

Circe by Madeline Miller

51 reviews

momma_needs_to_read's review against another edition

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

This was such a good book. I absolutely love Madeline Miller’s writing. She is able to perfectly describe settings and characters to a point that I was really able to picture it in my head. This book made me want to live on a deserted island with the animals and my own little garden outside a cottage.

I love Greek mythology and I’ve been wanting to read this for so long and I’m glad that I finally did. The book starts with Circe’s younger days and continues on as she explores and finds her true self. Anyone familiar with Greek Mythology will recognize most of the characters and their stories. This is such a great retelling. However, there were a few parts that kind of crept by and felt less interesting than others. Other parts had me completely enthralled, but then it would get to a slow part and start to lose me a bit.

Overall, I loved this book. I definitely recommend it to all Greek Mythology lovers.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Rape, Sexual assault, Blood, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, and Abandonment

Moderate: Sexual content, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship

issyd23's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective relaxing sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Welcome to Αἰαία, see the pigs transform from humans. Welcome to Αἰαία, hope you like Circe you ain’t leaving. Caroline Polachek would love it here 4🏝️

I love how intricate names in Greek mythology are: Helios, Pasiphaë, Minos, Aeëtes & then there’s literally Jason!💀

NB Fuck, marry, kill: Odysseus, Achilles, Paris (in that order) 🏛️

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

wet_towlette's review against another edition

medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Circe is so real, I love her. I wish she was able to get some better revenge or something though. It was kind of lacking in the action sense. Not that I really minded it, it's just that this story is marketed as an epic and usually with epics there's a lot more action.

I'm happy she got her happy ending I just wish it wasn't with her son's brother 😭 that is so weird.

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Child death, Grief, and War

mxpringle's review against another edition

adventurous challenging reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

The first 90% of the book? Amazing. Immaculately written and enthralling. The last 10% of the book? What in the

stepmother/stepchild relationship

was that... 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Infidelity, Misogyny, Rape, Torture, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Death, Blood, and Death of parent

taleofabibliophile's review

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Misogyny, Sexism, Torture, Vomit, Gaslighting, and War

Minor: Ableism, Child death, Self harm, Sexual content, and Suicide

meeklovestoread's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I was warned beforehand that this book was no p just vibes, and although I do value books that are more plot driven I thought I'd enjoy this since I liked her previous book. And while I did appreciate her writing it did get kind of confusing sometimes and sorta complicated to understand. The book did have numerous dull parts as well. I almost put it down numerous times. The book was still nice. I understand why people may love it, but sadly it just wasn't for me.

I never read the original tale so maybe this is just me. But Circe getting with her son's half brother when she also had sex with his father was well ws kind of disturbing.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Grief, Gaslighting, and Abandonment

Moderate: Child death, Death, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

Minor: Sexual content

gabydoesgrowth's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Circe was the second book I read after coming out of a 5 year slump where I didn’t read anything that wasn’t assigned to me by a syllabus. I think it was a great place to start.

As a kid, I really loved Greek mythology. As I got older, I started to read less sanitized versions of those stories and had a hard time sticking with it.

Turns out I really don’t like reading stories where rape and sexual assault are just something that happens.

Circe, however, sucked me in ever since I saw it being talked about on TikTok. 

While the misogyny of it all is both infuriating and exhausting, I enjoyed watching Circe grow into her own as she carves out a space for herself in the world that rejected her. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape

Moderate: Confinement, Misogyny, and Gaslighting

luminifera's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I absolutely loved it. What a beautiful retelling of the myth. So many details!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Incest, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Self harm, Xenophobia, Kidnapping, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Abandonment, Alcohol, and War

It's a heavy book. However, very much worth the read, and

it has a happy ending!

triangular_pascal's review against another edition

hopeful inspiring reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body shaming, Confinement, Death, Incest, Infidelity, Rape, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, and War

itsjadenbaby's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

I enjoyed Greek mythology so this was pretty interesting but overall it was just average. I found myself really interested and attached at times and really bored at other times. It gets a 3 star review since I flip flopped so much!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Rape, Sexual assault, Blood, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Grief and War

Minor: Cannibalism and Gaslighting